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Woulda, Shoulda

Other students part like the Red Sea as he walks down the hall. Adam is used to people acting weird around him. Ever since he came back from the hospital no one knows how to react to him. He wants to tell them he is still the same guy they went to grade school and middle school with but he knows they won’t be able to believe him. At the very least they won’t be able to process it. Just a little accident, a tiny head injury and everything changes. He walks and talks different, his nerves won’t let him do otherwise, but beneath it all he still knows, still feels, the same, but he cannot show them that, not in any way that will convince them. None of them see the Jeff that was always there and still is. They don’t see the funny, smart guy that laughed at all the same jokes, danced to all the same music, and loved all the same movies they did. They only notice the sad, strange person that sometimes needs help opening his locker, that takes longer to answer questions, and has to stay in classes for “special needs” students despite being on the easy track to valedictorian before “it” happened. All it took was a few bad decisions, really nothing different from most teens do, but now his life has been turned on its head. He still has a bright future, but it is tarnished. The accolades that could, and still may, be heaped upon him will be amended with “despite ofs” and “even thoughs.” They don’t take away the accomplishment, but, yes, they do. No matter how much he wishes otherwise. He is a reminder. He let’s them know how fragile they are and if there is anything a teenager hates, it is someone making them remember they are mortal. One bad choice, one night of fun, and Jeff’s bright future is tarnished, if just a little, and no one, no matter how much they say differently, will ever let forget it. His body, his family, his teachers and his friends, are sirens, announcements, reminding him, and everyone else, that actions have consequences, and he knows that he is a walking, talking, breathing cautionary tale.